TenZ on making it to Masters Madrid: "I'm feeling really confident with this roster."

After winning the VCT Americas Kickoff event, we at THESPIKE.GG got a chance to have a chat with the one and only Sentinels’ star, Tyson "TenZ" Ngo. During our conversation, we discussed the team's confidence with the new roster, their time in Korea, plans for the VCT 2024 - Masters Madrid, and more.

You can read our full conversation below.

Congratulations on the win, TenZ. How does it feel to be going to a Masters event after almost three years and many hardships?

TenZ: Thank you. Overall, it feels really good. The team and I put in a lot of hard work and effort, and I'm so glad it's finally paying off for us. And I'm feeling really confident with this roster.

The first to match was absolute cinema, as the Twitch chat was saying, but I want to focus a bit on Icebox and Bind; what was the factor that led to Map 5?

TenZ: For Icebox, we only got a little practice on it. We learned the map a few days before NRG to have it as a float pick so it could be played. Overall, we definitely tried really hard on that map. Since it is technically one of our perma bans, the lack of practice on that map impacted some of the rounds where it was really close, especially with the scoreline being 13-11.

For Bind, overall, it was hard. Their comp was interesting. They were playing confident, too, walking up a lot of spaces and taking duels. So that was really good for them. And it definitely caught me and the rest of the team out a lot of the time. So overall, they played well. And we couldn't wake up on Bind fully until the end.

I also want to know, we have seen Duelist Tenz, but this year we are seeing a Flex Tenz. Why are you in a flex role, and how are you so good at anything that you pick up in this game?

Tenz: So looking at the game now compared to before, it's definitely a lot different, more strategically in-depth, and people play together better. So it's easier to punish people who take risky peeks before. I'd say the duelist meta was just like, yeah, just throw some utility and skill, and the duelist will kill a bunch of stuff.

But now it's a lot more strategic. The duelist has to create space, and the other players have to capitalize off the space made. So, the game overall definitely evolved. And even though the roles are still the same, like duelist, controllers, and everything remains the same, it's still changed and grown in a certain way.

Throughout the kickoff tournament, what was your favorite moment of the event?

TenZ: Other than winning the finals, winning against NRG was pretty fun. Um, especially since many people still doubted us, and I thought that energy was better. Yeah, it was fun.

I would like to know what this Sentinels brings that makes it successful compared to last year.

Tenz: Overall, the roles are figured out, especially with me moving to mainly controller. Sometimes, I'm still technically a flex, but I play controller on most maps. So it was roles for sure. Everyone's a lot more comfortable now, especially with getting JohnQT, who can IGL from the Sentinel role, which is an issue we had before with our previous IGL wasn't able to kind of like IGL the game from without being in the pack. So I think those were two things that felt weird in the last season. Overall, our team cohesion is much better; we trust each other more and can work together a lot better than before.

Do you think this team has the same energy as the Masters Reykavik Sentinels?

Tenz: Yeah, so going into the Reykjavik tournament, we mainly felt really confident as a team. We knew that individually, we felt like we were more skilled and worked better together than other teams. So we went in with immense confidence. It really showed through our gameplay in Reykjavik.

But looking at this now, we probably still feel like we're more on the same page as other teams, and that's a big advantage to us and also a big advantage to our confidence. Confidence can play a big part in our gameplay. Like it shows early on in kickoff compared to now. We're slowly regaining confidence, gaining new confidence, and it shines in our gameplay.

Do you think the off-season tournaments that you played helped to build momentum and helped to grow as a team if you guys compared to just playing scrims?

Tenz: Yeah, for sure. When we were playing the off-season tournaments, there was definitely a big boost in confidence, especially since I haven't played a match in a while, and it's nice to get the first map, the first match, jitters out. And so, when we won the Korea event, we saw how we fared against other teams. We definitely improved a lot from where we started. We know how we're going to play in matches.

We have something to work off of for VOD reviewing and seeing what we need to work on as a team overall to improve for the future. And everything really translated well for us, even we a lot of us stayed after the tournament in Korea just to hang out and build like more cohesion out of the game, too. That's really important because overall, in Reykjavik, one of the magic things about us was we weren't just like teammates; we were like friends, and I think in this roster, I'm feeling this way with the rest of the team.

All the teams qualified this year for Madrid have a massive fan following. Which team are you most excited to go against in Madrid?

Tenz: Yeah, just any of the teams really. Each of the regions have their own respective play styles I know Karmine Corp uses some interesting comps, especially on Split I saw some of that, so yeah, it's just always a joy to play against other teams and see what their creativity can kind of like "cook."

Note: The article has been edited for clarity and brevity.